Did the Selfish Seamstress get duped?!?

It’s something of a sport to surf the various fabric discounters and look for identical fabrics priced very non-identically, for example this stretch cotton velveteen, available in a magenta colorway and an aqua one:

which is currently available at Denver Fabrics for $11.00/yard, and a mere $5.99/yard at Fabric Mart. Add in Fabric Mart’s much faster and often free shipping, and this one’s a no brainer. (Especially not for me since I’m not planning on buying either.)

But obviously the Selfish Seamstress is a savvy shopper, no? No. As it turns out, the big online fabric discounters have duped your innocent, well-meaning Selfish Seamstress. On a routine hunt, I discovered a wonderful navy and cream geometric silk twill on Fabric Mart- the kind of pattern and fabric I have been seeking for many moons to make the wonderful modern shirtdress that exists only in my mind’s selfish little eye. Here’s the listing:

I hastily ordered 3.5 yards and patted myself on the back for having decided against a different geometric brown and white cotton print at a London fabric store the week prior, about whose weight and drape I felt a little bit iffy for my hypothetical shirtdress. The salesperson was just about to make the first cut into the roll when I was like, “NO! I DON’T WANT IT!” They love me there, I bet. Anyway, I felt smug that I had held out for perfection, and been rewarded with silk twill in just the right print for a very, very reasonable $9.99/yard.

So imagine my joy when I discovered a perfectly matching lining fabric a few days later on Denver Fabrics! 100% acetate, not my favorite, but certainly something I could work with for that lovely pattern on a lining. I imagined myself walking down the street in my modern silk shirt dress topped with a coordinating cream 3/4-length trench lined in matching print, navy slingbacks, with a tiny dog on a leash, who in turn was wearing a matching scarf cut from the remnants. (In my mind’s eye, my outfits are often accessorized with tiny, expensive dogs, even though I have no real desire to have one.) Anyway, here’s the listing from Denver’s page (now sold out, btw):

The following week, this lining went on sale for $1.99/yard but I already felt like I’d gotten a good price, so I wasn’t too bummed. I think you know what I’m going to tell you next, and before you tell me that I should have known, let me make the disclaimer that manufacturers often use the same prints on different fabrics within a collection, to make coordinating sheers and solids, to use the same print on a blouse and a coat, etc. So really, in my mind this made perfect sense- I reasoned that Fabric Mart had bought some surplus of the dress fabric from Ann Taylor or whatever, and the Denver Fabrics had bought up the surplus of the coordinating lining.

Okay, so now to the punchline, which you should all be able to guess by now. I received the fabrics today. They actually came in the same box because I had them shipped to my mom in the US and she repacked them together to ship to me. And I opened the box to discover that… (say it with me now)…. they’re the SAME FABRIC. Yes. (This explains why my mom called to ask why I ordered two of the same fabric and why one was so much more expensive. I was like, “Oh, silly sewing-ignorant mother, don’t you know the difference between acetate lining and SILK TWILL? How undiscerning you are in your fabric-ly ways!” As it turns out yet again, my mother is right. She is ALWAYS right.) Here’s pics:

These fabrics are really and truly THE SAME. They have the same drape, they are the same width. The only way I can tell them apart is that the one from Fabric Mart has a sticker on one corner that proclaims “SILK TWILL GRID $9.99.” My intuition is that this is not silk, not just because I’m a cynical beeyatch who tends to assume that the world is out to screw her over, but because the fabric doesn’t feel luscious like silk to me. Those fibers coming off the cut edge have the resilient bounce of a synthetic, not the yielding limpness of silk. Then again, I rarely sew with pure silk, so I’m not really an expert on it. The fabric has no scent at all. If I crush it in my hand, it does not retain wrinkles. If I picked this up at a store, I would guess it was a polyester or nylon lining.

Anyway, feeling pretty grumbly and still harboring the hope that one was a silk and the other a synthetic and they just happened to look and feel exactly the same (why that would be a good thing, I don’t know), I decided it was time for a burn test.

I pulled a few threads from each, and did a burn test that revealed that I have no idea how to read a burn test. Seriously. I will say that the two samples did the same thing. They sort of balled up where the flame hit them, leaving behind a little black knob that crumbled in a “crunchy” way when I smooshed it. I couldn’t tell whether any melting was happening. The smell is supposed to be very revealing, as silk is supposed to smell like burning hair, whereas acetate is supposed to smell like burning wood chips. Honestly, it all smelled like burning match. Maybe ever so slightly like peanut shells. I subsequently cut little squares of each, as well as of some silk dupioni and rayon lining and proceeded to nearly set my house on fire repeatedly. The rayon lining definitely didn’t ball up so I think I can count that out, but the others did, and they all just smelled like smoke. Also, my lungs feel kind of fried now.

So, anyone have any advice about how to figure this one out? Or has anyone more knowledgeable purchased this fabric from Fabric Mart and feel pretty convinced that it is what it claims to be? Either I got an amazing deal from Denver Fabrics, or Fabric Mart has incorrectly identified this as silk and I’m going to have to write them some email. In any case, I now have a LOT of this stuff.

45 comments

Acetate should dissolve in acetone (nail polish remover), shouldn’t it ?
Anyway, the only time I did a burn test on a wee bit of silk, the kitchen reeked of charred meat for an hour. But then, maybe it wasn’t silk ?

The cynic in me says that it’s more likely for acetate to be mistakenly labeled as silk than the contrary.

Ooh, thanks for the tip! I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t actually own nail polish remover, but I’m sure I can get some.

I’m with you that it’s more likely for acetate to be mislabeled as silk than for silk to be mislabeled as acetate. Then again, if you look at the Denver Fabrics description, it also says the fabric is jacquard, which it certainly isn’t. I’ll update after I get ahold of some acetone though :)

Ooh, that is pretty cool. Unfortunately I’m had trouble distinguishing the smell, and I’m not sure if the resulting stuff is better described as black ash or black bead… but I’m definitely bookmarking this for future use- thanks!!

Oh no! I hope you can work this out, otherwise Fabric Mart should receive your email! From the reading I’ve done on burn tests, it sounds like both versions are the same non-silky stuff. Natural fibres are meant to burn and turn to ash I believe. Anyway, the fabric is nice, I’d love to see what you make with it! :)

I’m terrible with this. I make Trena do all my burn tests. That being said, someone (fabric mart) should be told. I do suspect you have acetate though. I would go with ths sound personally. Acetate to me is always noisy. And, it will melt with acetone (nail polish remover).

Interesting! I know what you mean about acetate, and this stuff isn’t as rigid as I normally associate with acetate, which is why I’m wondering if it’s actually neither silk nor acetate. Incidentally, did you know that the rustling sound of silk is called “scroop” and it’s actually “added” to silks through the application of organic acids? This fabric fun fact brought to you by the Selfish Seamstress!

Thanks for the tip! I do remember having purchased “acetone-free” nail polish remover, so I’ll make sure I find the right stuff. As for the refund, like I said, I’m not sure that Fabric Mart is the one in the wrong. But I’ll let you know more when I’ve got it figured out :)

i’m not very good with burn tests (doesn’t everything you burn just smell like… burning? how to differentiate, i have no idea), but i’m preeeetty sure synthetic fibers will melt & natural fibers just crumble & turn to ash. i think they mislabeled it and i think you owe them a scathing email.

I had an email ‘conversation’ with Fabric Mart recently where I asked the question, “Where is your ‘couture linen’ manufactured?” I thought this was a reasonable question to ask, but the response was “We don’t buy direct so we have no idea.” Now, I wonder if the reason why Fabric Mart labeled ‘silk twill’ on this fabric (which by the way looks like the print that Isaac Mizrahi was using when he was designing for Liz Claiborne ready to wear , but I might be wrong) is because that was what was on the bolt end, or was a label slapped on the wrapping? If they are just jobbing this out, in the sense that they are buying from other people who are buying mill ends or from mills or from distributors or whatever, it is very possible that they are really at the mercy of whoever is selling to them and I highly doubt that they are doing burn tests on any of the fabrics that they get in. On the other hand, it might be a helpful idea if someone called them up and let them know that this is happening and its just the sort of thing that can destroy an online retailer’s business.

Daaaaamn, T-wolls, you are gooood! You’re right! I did some searching and the pattern is from the Claiborne 2009 collection- how on earth did you spot that?? I found a shirtdress in the pattern (albeit stretch cotton poplin, which my fabric most certainly is not). I think part of the reason I had the idea of a graphic print shirtdress in my head is because I was in a fabric store once and the saleswoman had one on, and I said, “That’s beautiful! Did you make it yourself? Do you have that fabric?” And she laughed and said no, she couldn’t sew and she had bought it somewhere. And since then I’ve sort of had that style of fabric in mind, and when I saw this one I decided it would give the same kind of effect. And now that you’ve pointed me to Claiborne, I’m guessing that’s probably the dress she was wearing :)

Anyway, I’ll try to do the acetone test, and if that’s what the fabric turns out to be, I’ll certainly get in touch with Fabric Mart. Still hoping that Denver were the ones who got it wrong though…

I am no expert in burn tests, sewing etc but in my experience acetate is shiny and smooth, and silk has a dull sheen with an ever so slight rubbery kinda feel between the fingers. It’s my selfish guess that Fabric Mart may try and get out of it by saying that they never said it was silk, but “silk TWILL” which could be their marketing speak for acetate. To me, silk is silk – here in the UK dupion is man made and shantung is natural, twill is normally associated with cotton and wool. The lawyer in me says give Fabric Mart the benefit of the doubt and let them know about your awesome Selfish powers and give them the chance to refund you your money, otherwise you have a few thousand readers who will now think about taking their business elsewhere.

That’s really interesting that there’s so much disparity across the pond. Twill is supposed to denote a particular type of weaving of the fibers. It should have the diagonal ribs and grooves, like you see in denim. It generally is bottomweight made from cottons because it’s a strong weave.

I read in some ancient fabric textbook some time ago that wet silk is supposed to smell like fish. Have tried this test on known bits of raw silk, but I can’t tell, myself. Perhaps you can just wet both samples and see if either one smells like fresh fish to you. If so, the fishy one is the real deal. (Just from your photos of frayed edges and burn test it looks to me as if you have identical yardage of acetate, sadly.)

It won’t help you as your fabrics don’t melt but I just wanted to add to the discussion that silk fabric can actually melt when doing the burn test. I had the same issue when I bought some vintage silk on ebay a while ago and was then pretty frustrated because it felt and burned like polyester. That’s when someone who worked in the fabric industry told me that manufactuers use broken off threads, silk dust and leftovers from other fabrics, glue them together to form a new string and use that to weave a cheap “silk” fabric. So there are silks and silks, I guess.

Burn tests! Fun! We had to use them all the time in my college textile classes– our exams were literally looking at 50 fabric swatches and identifying the fiber, weave (or knit), and often the name of the fabric. Fun times!

So, yes, the test for acetate is to use acetone on it.

As far as burn tests go, there’s always a few distinguishing characteristics: the smell, the color of the flame, the ashes, and if it continues to burn once it’s pulled out of the flame. That last trait is the big difference between silk and acrylic or acetate. Silk will self-extinguish once it is removed from the flame; the other two will not.

And as far as the comment above about “Silk Twill” being an out for Fabricmart– I wouldn’t buy it if they pulled something like that. Silk is always a fiber– not a fabric. And twill is always a weave. One cannot have silk cotton– both are fibers. I’m on my own private crusade to set people right on this one. Cotton, Silk, Linen, Wool, Rayon, Polyester, Acetate, Acrylic, and Nylon (and others like jute and hemp, etc.) are all fibers. From there, fabric is divided into knits or woven. In the woven category, we start getting into different types of weaves– plain, satin, twill and complex computer-generated ones. These weaves, in combination with the fibers, create fabrics. Thus we have denim, gingham, houndstooth, cotten shirting, batiste, tartan, gabardine, sateen, muslin…

Sorry about the tirade! Best of luck to you, Selfish Seamstress. It’s good to have you back– I’ve missed your posts!

Bless you Elise! You saved me from my own tirade. I’m on the same crusade.

Selfish, try acetone if you have it, but if you want to do another burn test, try burning a small 1″ x 1/8″ strip of fabric using an unscented candle on a non-burnable surface indoors. Lay down a piece of aluminum foil to protect your table. A match will mask the real odor of the burning fiber. Acetate is a manufactured cellulose fiber, burns and melts rapidly, may drip and can also have ash. The residue is a hard shiny black bead. It really does smell acidic when burned. Silk, on the other hand is a protein (duh). It burns slowly, sputters, and SELF Extinguishes, it also scorches. It does smell like burning hair (burning meat, etc) and the residue is a gray to black bead that can be crushed into powder with your finger.

If there’s any sort of ball forming, you got expensive acetate and not cheap silk.

Burn some of your hair for comparison, that’s what silk should smell like :-). But definitely powdery. And I’m afraid the acetone is probably an urban legend, but never mind. It sounds like you’re feeling confused because of trying to find differences in the same fabric, that’s the main thing.
I kind of would like to see that email :-). Definitely return the crap. Maybe go apologize to the nice London store, and hope they have any of the other stuff left??

You know, if they’re a jobber I’d never buy from them online. It’s one thing to go feel things at the Marche St Pierre, you know what you’re getting and if it’s good for your intended use, but online?? Not on my dead body (or yours, considering the selfish thing).

Sucks about the fabric. I just ordered something from Fabric Mart and I’ve got the beeyatchness not to be as kind as you are. Haven’t done a burn test either, but seems like there might some funkiness afoot with their description.

I’m going to disagree with the majority and say that your burn test picture looks like they’re both silk. My experience is that silk burns into a crunchy black ball, which you can then crunch between your fingers into crumbs. Acetate burns into a harder black crunchy substance, and will keep burning. Silk is self extinguishing.

Ooh, I love fabric mysteries. This one must be solved! I managed to find some fabric used in a recent Heidi Merrick collection and bought a ton of it for a maxi dress, only to find out later that her company used the same print on a cheaper cotton for Target–and I don’t know which one I got in the end. (But I’m hoping the more expensive stuff, because I paid for it!) Given that I’ve had great experiences with Fabric Mart and find them more accessible than other discounters… I’d give them the benefit of the doubt, but definitely tell them what’s up and ask for a refund! I already assume that most of my favorite stores buy from jobbers and have limited knowledge of both manufacture origin and fiber content. Hmmm, off to go light some fabrics on fire….

[…] kids! Are you ready for some science? Of course you are! So, on the topic of the Fabric Mart “silk” versus the Denver Fabrics “acetate,” it’s time for a little experiment. After getting lots of helpful tips from readers and […]

I recently visited a silk factory in Shanghai. It was on a tour where they actually wanted to sell you something, but it was very interesting as they showed how they got the silk out of the cocoon etc and how you end up with the fiber to weave. They also did a burn test, but they also said that you can blow through silk, whereas you can’t blow through fabrics made out of man made fibers. It actually worked on the PJ’s they were using to show the difference between silk and polyester, but I would normally think that the “blowability” (sorry if that sounds rather rude!) of the fabric would depend more on the denseness of the weave than the fiber used. And I totally agree with Elise. I live in the Philippines where fabrics are never marked with their composition. Staff in fabric stores are always referring to any shiny fabric as silk whereas in 99% of the cases, it is just plain polyester. We can also buy polyester linen here as well as polyester wool I am continuously trying to educate fabric store staff but have a feeling they just think I am a mad foreigner!

[…] fabric, surprisingly hard to find in a shirtdress-appropriate weight and drape, I discovered this silk twill on Fabric Mart, and snatched it up immediately, as it had exactly the vibe I was going for and […]

no help for the silk/acetate question but wanted to thank Katarina for her comment. I wanted to learn how to do pulled thread/hemstitching work but due to the cost of linen I kept putting off buying yardage. Then, in my local shop there was linen for about $8 so I bought a yard. When I tried to pull out the weft thread it disintegrated into powder. But I got what I paid for. I’ve also bought stretch polyester for $18 that looked and felt exactly like stretch linen – but this was my fault as it was quite clearly woven into the seledge that this was polyester.

[…] measured & noted how much I have of everything. I’ve given up identifying fibers. Like many others I have no luck with the burn tests. And as I have a reputation for burning pots & kettles, I thought it safer to keep away from […]

To test fabric if its silk, burn test can tell you if the fabric is silk or not, I do use this test when I buying materials from wholesale market / supplier shop. And you may use this test to check the wool/cashmere as well.
Silk is protein they burn very quickly, for example if its silk charmeuse {100 % Silk} you may cut a small piece of the fabric and put it in an ashtray then burn it with a lighter / match, it will be smells like burning human hair when it burning, if you smash the ash gently it will be all crumbled -same as cigarette ash- but in much smaller / finer form. The more fine crumbs from the ash it has more silk contents. If the fabric passed this burn test, then it should be real silk – though you may still need some experience for fabric, and its better to buy silk fabrics from trustworthy shop or online store.

Well it’s been ages, but since I don’t see any conclusion to this, I figured I’d put in my two cents. I agree with anon, they both look like silk.
Haven’t you ever burn-tested a synthetic fiber? Synthetics melt into a little plastic bead. You’d know it. If it crumbles, it’s not synthetic.
Burn test known fibers before you try to figure out an unknown!

That said, content mistakes do happen from FM. I think they generally go with what it was sold to them as. I’m still pondering the stuff that was labeled “100% handkerchief linen” and then said something about how it’s often mistaken for linen and breathes like linen, but wears better and is more durable than linen. Other places stuff that may or may not have been the same (that Dana Buchman “handkerchief linen” that they had in several colors) was labeled as just “linen.” And sometimes they’ll be inconsistent across their site, like a fabric that was in the mailer as a wool challis and later turned up on the site listed as having 8% silk too. I guess they update with whatever info they have? Which it is, I have no clue– there’s no way I’d be able to tell if it has a bit of another protein fiber mixed in. (It’s nice, though!)

There was one fabric that they had listed as a silk (shantung, I think) that burn tested as plant matter. I e-mailed them, they tested the bit they had left, agreed with my plant matter conclusion, and gave me a refund.

I think the content uncertainty is just in the nature of being a jobber.

I know this is from forever ago and you have your answer already and maybe this tip is even somewhere here in the comments but I will put it here anyway. To tell the difference between silk and synthetics you just need to rub it with your hands,for a couple of minutes then shake it in the air a couple of seconds and touch the fabric again . Synthetics will cool down immediately but silk will retain the heat and will feel warm to the touch. I have tried it with my shirts so I think it truly works.

I found your post when looking for hints on good lining (or underlining – I haven’t decided) for a dress in silk twill. I bought what seems to be the same fabric in a red or salmon print on ivory and am assuming I’ll have to line or underline it. Did you like your shirt dress?

I have been ordering from fabricmart for many years and love them. I even made a pilgrimage to their brick and mortar store last year. At the store they told me they buy overstocks from manufacturing that the designers sit on for a year or two before releasing to them. I am not surprised that they made things right for Maggie above. If something came to them mislabeled they are unlikely to notice. I have never gotten anything that was mislabeled yet and often the fabrics are far nicer than I ever imagined when they arrive.

I realize this thread is old, and you might have already learned this, but silk burns slowly (not quickly as someone else suggested), self extinguishes, ash is fine, dark grit, and hardly any smoke from it. If you have doubts, drop a 1″ square of it in a tiny bit of bleach (I use a glass shot glass. Bleach will completely disintegrate it and leave the bleach clear. ;)

[…] measured & noted how much I have of everything. I’ve given up identifying fibers. Like many others I have no luck with the burn tests. And as I have a reputation for burning pots & kettles, I thought it safer to keep away from […]